“I’ll be there in spirit and can’t wait to cheer my former colleagues on!” wrote the professional dancer, who participated in 26 seasons of Dancing with the Stars before announcing her retirement last year.
Cheryl Burke says she will not be featured in the upcoming tribute performance to longtime Dancing with the Stars judge Len Goodman.
On Thursday, the former DWTS pro — who appeared on 26 seasons of the dance competition series — claimed she “wasn’t invited” to take part in the tribute to Goodman, who passed away in April.
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“For those of you asking if I’ll be a part of Len Goodman’s tribute next week on DWTS, unfortunately, I wasn’t invited however, I’ll be there in spirit and can’t wait to cheer my former colleagues on!” she wrote on Threads. “Sending love and light to everyone. 🤍🙏🏼 #riplen.”
TooFab has reached out to ABC for comment.
Earlier this week, DWTS cohosts Julianne Hough and Alfonso Riberio announced that next Tuesday’s episode will honor Goodman with a dance tribute, with eight former DWTS pros returning: Mark Ballas, Maks Chmerkovskiy, Tony Dovolani, Kym Johnson-Herjavec, Edyta Śliwińska, Karina Smirnoff, Anna Trebunskaya, and Louis van Amstel. Fellow alums Val Chmerkovskiy and Jenna Johnson will be choreographing the routine.
Goodman died in April at age 78 following a private battle with prostate cancer. At the time, Burke paid tribute to the DWTS judge, honoring Goodman on Instagram.
“My heart is heavy and I’m in tears as I’m writing this…,” she began in her lengthy tribute. “There are not enough words to describe how much Mr. Len Goodman made such an impact in my life. From when I was a teenager when he used to judge me in all of the European dance competitions I took part in all the way up until the day we hugged each other when we both retired on @dancingwiththestars this past season.”
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“Mr. Goodman, to this day when doing interviews I always get asked who my favorite judge was and without hesitation I would consistently say YOU were!” Burke added. “Thank you for being the face of Ballroom Dancing and always standing by what was right no matter what. A huge reason why Dancing with the Stars was a hit show that was about teaching celebrities how to Ballroom Dance was because of you, your tough love, your no BS approach (which I appreciated) and your beliefs within the technique of Ballroom but more importantly, because of how much you truly cared about the sport and how it was represented. No BS, just STRICTLY BALLROOM! I’m sure many will agree when I say that because of you, Ballroom Dancing was brought to main stream television. I truly believe the show is a success and is loved and viewed by millions to this day because of your influence, your passion, and love for the Ballroom genre.”
See her tribute in full in the post, above.
Although she allegedly wasn’t invited to participate in the on-air tribute to Goodman, Burke was a longtime DWTS pro ahead of her retirement, competing on 26 of the show’s 32 seasons.
She’s also one of the show’s most decorated pros, having won in her first two seasons with the show, subsequently enjoying two second-place finishes and five third-place finishes.
Last November, Burke announced her retirement as a professional dancer on Dancing with the Stars, which she had appeared in since Season 2, ahead of the Season 31 finale.
“I am sitting here full of so many conflicting emotions about the words I am about to write. Tomorrow night will officially be my final dance as a pro dancer on @dancingwiththestars,” she wrote in part. “This has been one of the absolute hardest decisions of my life & I am also confident that it is the right one. This show has been my 2nd family since I was 21 years old. The cast, crew & fans have seen me through my highest highs & some of my lowest lows, & I honestly don’t know who I would be today without them.”
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